Cragbridge Hall, Book 1 by Chad Morris

Chad Morris is a writer friend of mine. I met him and his lovely wife Shelly online a couple of years ago, and we've had the opportunity to socialize at a number of writerly meet and greets. 

Well, Chad's got a book coming out this week called Cragbridge Hall, Book 1. It's a delightful middle grade story . . . but he's not going to any book launches.

Why, you wonder? 

Because his nine-year-old daughter had surgery last week to remove a brain tumor. As you can imagine, Chad and Shelly aren't worrying about the release of Chad's book. 

So, with Chad and Shelly so busy with real-life issues, I want to help   spread the word around. I had the opportunity to read Cragbridge Hall when I signed up to be part of a traveling ARC--I was even the first person on the list! 

What can I say about it? I LOVED this book. Here's the review I posted after I read it:

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?

Imagine a school in the year 2074 where students don't read history, but watch it happen around them; where running in gym class isn't around a track, but up a virtual mountain; and where learning about animals means becoming one through an avatar.

Welcome to Cragbridge Hall, the most advanced and prestigious school in the world. Twin siblings Abby and Derick Cragbridge are excited as new students to use their famed grandfather's inventions that make Cragbridge Hall so incredible. But when their grandfather and parents go missing, the twins begin following a trail of clues left by their grandfather. They must find out where their family is, learn who they can trust, and discover what secrets are hidden within Cragbridge Hall.

Abby and Derick soon realize they are caught in a race with a fierce adversary to discover their grandfather's greatest secret--a dangerous discovery that could alter both history and reality.

MY TAKE
This is the best middle grade book I've read in a while. I loved it.

This book has a flavor of Percy Jackson in that the storyline is an interesting (and exciting) way to tease the reader with snippets--but of history rather than mythology. And just like the Percy Jackson books, this made me want to find out more about the historical events and people. The thing that I really found charming was the clever way Morris wove historical events through the tale and then let what the characters learned from history be part of handling various things that happen to Abby and Derick. 

Imagine that. Learning from history!

You don't know who you can trust as you move through the story, and I found it easy to sympathize with the kids as they tried to figure out how to proceed.

And all I can say is Carol rocks.

I've already purchased a copy to give to my nine-year-old grandson. I have no doubt his older sister will be sneaking it from him as soon as she can. She's thirteen, and it's just the kind of book she'd enjoy, too.

Goodreads         Amazon

And if you want to help make a little girl smile, do up a picture of yourself with a mustache and post it on FB for Chad to share.

LTUE Update - Writing Fantastic Description

I've never hidden the fact that writing description is hard for me. I think I'm getting better at it as I do it more and pay more attention to it as I'm reading. Hopefully, I will continue to improve the more I do it, and it won't be such an agonizing experience.

I'll be honest, though. I don't like too much description. I've been in bootcamp critique groups where some of the input I receive is they want more description. And it makes me feel . . . conflicted. Yes, there needs to be adequate description but since I tend to skip too much description in books, I don't want to write stuff people like me are going to skip.

As author Elmore Leonard said: I try to leave out the parts that people skip.

Um. Yeah.

So I was particularly interested in the LTUE panel on Writing Fantastic Description (and Knowing Where to Put It) with Amber Argyle, Michelle Davidson Argyle, Frank L. Cole, Chad Morris, Peter Orullian, and Andrea Pearson.

Following are some of the snippets I jotted down during the class:

• With epic fantasy, the world is important and must be described in detail - I was always amazed at the way Robert Jordan could describe clothing. In some books, the kind of detail he put into would be overdoing it, but he wrote epic fantasy and the clothing in many ways was part of his world building by how it represented the various cultures.

• Don't just describe the physical traits of characters--make what you describe say something about the character as well

• Be aware the attention span of the target audience--middle grade doesn't require as much detail as genres for older readers

• The words you use should set the tone - what your characters see when they enter a room or check out people says a lot about your characters. So don't just mention that the sofa was green unless the sofa being green means something to the character.

• Reveal information gradually so the reader has 'aha' moments along with the character

• Every word has a job--don't use words that aren't doing something for the story

• Using description tidbits in dialogue lets those words do double duty

• Metaphor and simile can be a great ways to describe

• Let your content mirror the action

• When you're writing a sentence you don't want to bury what you're describing, so list what you're describing at the end - oh, my heck. Some years ago I was reading a book aloud to my husband and one of our sons. It was Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. Both hubby and son are great audio learners, but we were all getting lost in the excessive description  The point of the paragraphs was being lost. Without telling them, I started reading only the first and last sentences of each paragraph. After a few paragraphs, hubby and son looked at each other and said, "Wow. Why is it suddenly making sense?" 

• Some kinds of description are easier done in third person than first

During the iWriteNetwork Winter Workshop last month, I taught a class on writing a one-page synopsis. As I was reviewing my notes from the LTUE class, I realized that writing a short synopsis could be an excellent exercise is making sure that you don't have any lazy words. You have to give each one serious consideration to make sure it's doing that job you need it to do.

My oldest son's amazing at it--in seventh grade he knocked my socks off with his ability to paint a picture with words. I have no idea where that gift came from.

How about you? Is writing description your friend? Or are you more like me?

Writerly Get Togethers

Saturday, hubby and I had an opportunity to attend a potluck with a bunch of other writers. Can I just tell you how fun it is to live in a place so rich in the publishing industry?

L.T. Elliot (aka Laura) and Carolyn Vawdrey

Chad Morris, Tiana Smith, and Mary Campbell

David Powers King (and wife), Morgan Shamy, Julia King, and Shelly Brown (married to Chad)

Me, Laura, and Julia

Do you ever have a chance to meet up for social events with other writers?